British Airways strikes cost £ 121m
LONDON 26 Sep (ANA) - British Airways owner IAG has warned that its profits will be lower than expected this year, partly due to the impact of strikes by its pilots.
It said the two-day strike earlier this month in a row over pay and conditions had cost it at least € 137m (£ 121m).
Overall, IAG expects its operating profit for this year to be € 215m lower than previous guidance.
There have been no further talks between BA and the pilots' union, and more strikes will hit profit, IAG said.
As a result of the two-day strike by pilots on 9 and 10 September, IAG said a total of 2,325 flights had been cancelled. A strike by BA pilots that had been scheduled for 27 September was called off last week.
In addition to the costs from the pilots' strike, IAG took a € 33m hit over threatened strikes at Heathrow Airport by employees.
The airline group also said its results would include a € 45m hit from lower bookings and yields - a measure of the average fare per passenger mile - at its low-cost Vueling and Level airlines.
IAG also forecast lower growth in capacity - that is, the number of seats available - than it had previously thought, meaning it would reduce pilot recruitment plans.
Shares in IAG were among the biggest losers on the FTSE 100 in early trading, dropping about 3.7%, before paring some losses.(ANA)
FA/ANA/26 September 2019-----